...To the Soldiers of Bravo Company, 1-8
Infantry, and the Family and Friends Who Support Them

FOREWORD

The Army's 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) spent a long and demanding year of successful combat operation
in Iraq. As its commander, I daily witnessed the phenomenal courage, competence, compassion, and sacrifice of our soldiers.
We experienced high points such as the capture of Saddam Hussein but also endured the rigors of extended operations against
dogged opponent in a complex and often hostile environment. Soldiers en route to such a theater should be not only properly
trained and equipped but also psychologically prepared.

Capt. Robert ("Todd") Sloan Brown was among the best of our company commanders. He and the soldiers he led performed
magnificently in some of the division's toughest and most critical operations. Indeed, some of the materials he wrote or
briefed received wide currency within the division when preparing others to follow him into rough neighborhoods. I believe
his journal can serve a similar purpose for those on their way to Iraq—or someplace like it. His narrative is not
thoroughly analytical nor is it always fair; but it is gripping. It provides useful discussion of tactics, techniques, and
procedures as they evolved in Iraq. It also touches on the conflict between combat operations and nation building. More
important, it captures the stresses of combat and corresponding emotions as they accumulate over time in a combat outfit.
Understanding these could prove invaluable to those who courageously serve our nation and will continue to endure them in th
long war. However, this work should also be taken in context. The timeframe was 2003 to early 2004—tactics and the
environment have changed over time.

The U.S. Army Center of Military History has provided helpful prefacing and contextual materials to sustain the perspective
of the reader. Appendixes reproduce materials Captain Brown authored in Iraq to assist his comrades and provide insight into
the command and control process at Brown's level. Taken together, this collection should prove constructive and useful to
deploying soldiers and remarkable to those who appreciate what our soldiers do to protect our
way of life.

Maj. Todd Brown commanded an infantry company in the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) during
Operation Iraqi Freedom and has served with the 1-508 Airborne Battalion Combat Team in Italy and 2-75 Rangers at Fort Lewis
Washington. Brown is a 1996 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, where he served as First Captain—the highest rankin
cadet. He is currently assigned as an associate professor at the U.S. Military Academy and has an MBA from Stanford
University. He is married, an avid Ironman Triathlete, and an Eagle Scout.

PREFACE

This book originated in the small green notepads ubiquitous among U.S. Army soldiers. As time
wore on in Iraq, computers and printers became more accessible and I transferred my thoughts onto an external jump drive.
When I had printer access, I would print these thoughts as portions of letters to my wife and parents, in part answering the
inevitable question: What are you doing now? I thought the more thorough the descriptions I sent home, the more robust the
care packages of Cajun-flavor beef jerky, Gatorade, and Gold Bond powder I would receive. My father, ever the careful
historian and on the Army Staff at the time, organized these letters and tied them to the headline news and the Pentagon's
contemporary appreciation of events. My wife, mother, and Aunts Margy and Nancy sent me more than my body weight in beef
jerky, Gatorade mix, and other delectables.

The idea of transferring these letters and thoughts into a book proved almost as daunting a task as fighting insurgents.
I received a lot of encouragement to publish, but the one thing that always stuck with me was the idea that writing a book
may help someone deploying to combat. It became my goal—in my own mind, my duty—to write an honest account of my
experiences, thoughts, and feelings to help deploying combat leaders. As I reread this book with the luxury of hindsight, I
am always amazed at some of the tactical mistakes we made. I often debated taking out sections of
the book so as to not look foolish, "cherry," or "junior varsity." Each time, wise counsel reminded me that descriptions
of evolutionary tactics are far more instructive than revisionist history ...we learn so much more from our mistakes.

I learned an incredible amount tactically, emotionally, and psychologically during my time in Iraq. I consider the leve
of combat and danger I personally faced there as pretty standard for an infantryman in the Sunni Triangle. This book is
not a collection of one hair-raising RPG ambush after the next, though they exist. Instead, it reflects the boredom,
camaraderie, and moments of terror I experienced throughout my tour. It also discusses many of the leadership challenges,
frustrations, and personal squabbles that affect units. I always strove to lead an organization that could
rapidly adjust to the changing threat; hopefully, this book conveys the lessons we learned. The views expressed are my
own and not those of the U.S. government, Department of Defense, or U.S. Army.

This book is the product of so many people's hard work and sacrifice that I feel guilty putting my name on the cover. The
first person I have to thank is my wife Kris, who has sustained me through eight years of marriage and countless deployments
I can never thank her enough for her love, care, support, and understanding while both living and writing this book. Our
Army asks so much of our loved ones—they are the true patriots. Special thanks to my mother and father: their love,
leadership, and

viii

Battleground IRAQ

sacrifices are awe inspiring. They are my heroes. Thanks go to Oscar and Meyer, amiable
Dachshunds who provided great late-night-writing companionship—although their grammatical contributions were dubious a
best. Thanks go to the platoon sergeants and commanders I have had through the years; I carry invaluable leadership lessons
from each of them. To the Byers, Faunce, Panchot, and Paliwoda families, thank you for raising and nurturing such wonderful
sons; I am a better man for having known each of them. Thanks go to the Center of Military History. Jeff Clarke pushed this
project along and read the manuscript in the early days. In particular, I must thank Diane Donovan, my editor, who taught me
that communication without expletives was in fact possible. I will miss seeing her e-mails in the mornings with their words
of encouragement. Thanks also go to John Shortal, Richard Stewart, Keith Tidman, Beth MacKenzie, S. L. Dowdy, Michael R.
Gill, Diane Arms, Dale Andrade, and Bill Epley for all their hard work in making this manuscript into a book.